The firm called the report of a possible sale to Musk ‘pure fiction’.

TikTok has dismissed reports that the Chinese social media company is considering selling US operations to Elon Musk as “pure fiction”.

The company’s comments came in response to a Bloomberg report that Chinese officials were weighing a possible sale of its US business to a billionaire if the US Supreme Court upheld a ban on the app.

Supreme Court justices are set to rule on a January 19 deadline for TikTok to sell its US operations or face a ban in the country.

Tik Tok has repeatedly said it will not sell its US operations.

“We cannot expect to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok spokesperson told the BBC.

One scenario that could be considered by Chinese authorities would be for Musk’s X social media platform to take over TikTok’s US operations, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

X did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Musk is a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump.He will return to the White House on January 20.

Last month Trump urged the Supreme Court To delay the decision until he comes to the office to allow him to seek a “political solution”.

The lawyer submitted a legal brief to the court saying that Trump “opposes the banning of TikTok” and “needs the ability to solve problems after taking political power.”

That comes a week after Trump met TikTok CEO Shaw Zee Chou at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

On Monday, two Democratic lawmakers, Sen. Edward Markey and Rep. Ro Canna, as well as Congress and President Joe Biden, called for an extension of the Jan. 19 deadline.

Last week, the jury was present at the Supreme Court hearing. He tends to enforce the law And stay on the last day.

During nearly three hours of deliberations, the nine justices repeatedly returned to the national security issue that prompted the law.

The Biden administration has argued that TikTok could be used by China as a tool for espionage and political manipulation without a sale.

The company has repeatedly denied any influence from the Chinese Communist Party and said the law banning it in the US violates its users’ free speech rights.